Lauren Bacall was one of the best, sexiest and sexiest-voiced actresses of 1940s and '50s Hollywood. Known for her range as an actress, she could do everything from serious, FilmNoir dramatic roles like ''Film/TheBigSleep'' to ridiculous comedies of errors like 1953's ''Film/HowToMarryAMillionaire'' (with Betty Grable and Creator/MarilynMonroe).

Born Betty Joan Perske in 1924, she had a career that is a real example of FollowYourDreams: After her parents separated, her mother encouraged the young Betty to make it big in show business. After a [[StageNames name change]] and [[DyeHard hair coloring]] (the name "Perske" sounded too Jewish, apparently), she did. Bacall appeared in four movies with Creator/HumphreyBogart, whom she married [[MayDecemberRomance despite being over 20 years younger than him]].

Starting in TheSixties, she stopped really appearing in films, but had a rather successful career on Broadway, starring in production such as ''Theatre/CactusFlower'' and ''Applause'', and as a liberal activist. She also voiced the idents for PBS from 1996 to 2003 (in one version, Bacall herself appeared, as that set of idents had people like Chris Rock lifting a disc with the 'P-Head' symbol over their faces as small acrobats appeared around them). She lived for 53 years in the Dakota Apartments in New York City, and thus was Music/JohnLennon's neighbor before Lennon's murder.

Incidentally, Bacall was a first cousin of Shimon Peres, former UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}i president and prime minister, who won the Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and Arafat for trying to fix the UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict. Peres was born Szymon Perski. One wonders what their family reunions (if any) are like.

Bacall died on August 12, 2014 at the age of 89 in New York City from a stroke (though news of her death was overshadowed with news of another celebrity death: Creator/RobinWilliams' suicide, which happened the day before). She will be missed.

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!!Partial filmography:* ''Film/ToHaveAndHaveNot'' (1944)* ''Film/TheBigSleep'' (1946)* ''Film/DarkPassage'' (1947)* ''Film/KeyLargo'' (1948)* ''Film/HowToMarryAMillionaire'' (1953)* ''Film/TheCobweb'' (1955)* ''Film/DesigningWoman'' (1957)* ''Film/NorthWestFrontier'' (1959)* ''Film/{{Harper}}'' (1966)* ''Literature/MurderOnTheOrientExpress'' (1974)* ''Film/TheShootist'' (1976)* ''Literature/{{Misery}}'' (1990)* ''Film/TheMirrorHasTwoFaces'' (1996)* ''Film/{{Dogville}}'' (2003)----!!Lauren Bacall displays examples of:* FemmeFatale: She played this character a lot.* FilmNoir: The genre she is closely associated with. * [[LastOfHisKind Last of Her Kind:]] She was one of a very select few members of The Golden Age of Hollywood who lived well into the 21st century. More specifically, of the 15 giants of Old Hollywood that Music/{{Madonna}} name checks in the ''Film/DickTracy''-inspired song [[Music/ImBreathless "Vogue,"]] she was the last one to pass away.* PromotedFangirl: Many examples, including:** Admired Creator/BetteDavis, and then met her as a teenager.** Admired Creator/KatharineHepburn, and they became lifelong friends.* SmokingIsGlamorous: One of the iconic cigarette smokers in Hollywood. * StageName: Given to her by Creator/HowardHawks. Her close friends called her "Betty," though, and Bogie called her "Baby."* {{Tsundere}}: Her screen persona. ----